Bring Your Class to the Archives!

Educators are always looking for new ideas to make learning experiences interesting and challenging for students. One way to enrich learning is to connect the past to the present. By giving students an opportunity to research with primary sources, the past comes alive in a way often not possible in today’s digital age. Further, students are often given an opportunity to develop and utilize skills such as analytical thinking, writing and presentations.

We strive to foster students’ critical thought about information, its creation and its historical legacy. We aim to increase primary source literacy for learners as outlined in the Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy developed by the Society of American Archivists and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).

The Archives and Area Research Center of Cofrin Library is a treasure of original materials on just about any topic imaginable. Not just for history majors, the Archives can help with assignments in many disciplines. For example, a graphics class might look at consumer product ads over time to evaluate changes in style or presentation. A geography class would gain a greater understanding of land use patterns by using original maps and community plans housed in the Archives. A communications class studying media could examine the differences in the media coverage of events such as Lincoln’s assassination versus JFK’s assassination, or the differences in media coverage of elections. An environmental science class studying the Niagara Escarpment would find it useful to analyze unpublished conference proceedings and reports. Finally, a humanities course might compare and contrast a movie about a historical time period with diaries written by individuals living the event. The possibilities are limitless! We are open to working with classes from all disciplines and academic levels.

View some of our recent collaborations with UW-Green Bay courses.

The Archives Department welcomes the opportunity to work with instructors to collaborate in the design of instruction sessions and primary-source-based assignments. Even if you only have a concept for an assignment or project, contact the Archives! We will be happy to work with you in developing and implementing course assignments and projects.

Contact information:
Deb Anderson, Archivist
Phone: 920-465-2539
CL 705